There are "grave concerns" for some of the more than 1400 people reported uncontactable after Cyclone Gabrielle, police say.
It comes after police today confirmed the deaths of four people during the devastating weather event.
Among the dead are a child whose body was found in Eskdale shortly before 2pm today, and a firefighter who had been missing following a landslide in Muriwai.
A third person died following a landslip in Matahorua Rd, in Putorino, yesterday afternoon. The body of a fourth person was found on the shore in Bay View, Napier, yesterday evening.
As of 2.30pm today, 1442 people have been reported as uncontactable, police said. The figure includes duplicate reports of the same person being reported uncontactable by different people.
The vast majority are from Hawke's Bay and Tairawhiti in the Eastern District, while the remainder is from across the North Island.
There are also 111 reports of people who are now safe.
Police say while a "large number of the reports" are believed to be due to communication lines being down, "there are several people missing in the Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti areas, for whom we have grave concerns".
"With other storm-affected districts reporting they are able to manage their response within existing resources, Police National Headquarters is now focussed on critical support for Eastern District."
Police say they will be redeploying more than 70 staff from the Bay of Plenty, Central, Wellington, Tasman, Canterbury and Southern districts, as well as the Royal New Zealand Police College, to provide support in Hawke’s Bay and Tairawhiti over the next 48 hours.
Anyone who believes someone is at risk has been urged to inform police by filling in a Person Inquired For form. Police are also asking people to register that they are safe by submitting a Registering I’m Alive form.
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